そんなに〜ない details
not that much — denies a degree the other person or the situation has just put forward + write + not
sonnani kakanai
not that much — denies a degree the other person or the situation has just put forward; bare, that much
meaning: don't write that much
うちの犬、大きいけどそんなに食べないんだよ。
uchi no inu, ookii kedo sonnani tabenai n da yo.
Our dog is big, but he doesn't eat that much. casual
心配しなくて大丈夫。傷はそんなに深くないよ。
shinpai shinakute daijoubu. kizu wa sonnani fukakunai yo.
No need to worry — the cut isn't that deep. casual
- ない-form
- i-adjective stem
- na-adjective
- dictionary form
- i-adjective
Examples
not that much — the speaker disputes a degree the other person or the situation has just raised
うちの犬、大きいけどそんなに食べないんだよ。
uchi no inu, ookii kedo sonnanitabenai n da yo.
Our dog is big, but he doesn't eat that much. casual
心配しなくて大丈夫。傷はそんなに深くないよ。
shinpai shinakute daijoubu. kizu wa sonnani fukakunai yo.
No need to worry — the cut isn't that deep. casual
手続きは、そんなに複雑ではありませんでした。
tetsuzuki wa, sonnani fukuzatsu de wa arimasen deshita.
The procedure was not that complicated. neutral
that much; that … — bare, pointing at a degree in front of the speaker, in objections and disbelief
そんなに急がなくていいよ。時間はまだあるから。
sonnani isoganakute ii yo. jikan wa mada aru kara.
There's no need to rush like that. We still have time. casual
え、そんなに高いの？ やめておこうかな。
e, sonnani takai no? yamete okou kana.
What, it's that expensive? Maybe I'll give it a miss. casual
Formation
そんなに{V-nai}attaches to ない-formそんなに{I-stem}くないattaches to i-adjective stemそんなに{NA-stem}ではないattaches to na-adjectiveそんなに{V}attaches to dictionary formそんなに{I}attaches to i-adjective
Related patterns
Similar
あまり scales down against the speaker's own sense of normal and needs nothing said beforehand; そんなに points back at a degree the context has just proposed, so そんなに高くない wants someone to have called it expensive first.
全然 denies the whole degree and そんなに only the degree on offer — 全然寒くない says there is no cold at all, そんなに寒くない concedes the cold and disputes how much of it there is.
One word in two registers — そんなに is the everyday spoken shape, そう the reduced one kept for writing and careful speech; そう often takes a は or も after the degree word (そう長くはない) for emphasis, though the bare form works too.
Lookalikes
〜ほど〜ない names the standard it falls short of inside the sentence (去年ほど寒くない); そんなに leaves that standard outside it, in what was just said or shown, so そんなに寒くない cannot be answered with "than what?".